


Of Least not Lasts

by lorenlight



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, First Time, Inspired by Fanfiction, bored, commentsaregreat, i got nothing else, justreaditplease
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-19
Updated: 2017-05-19
Packaged: 2018-11-02 15:04:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10946979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lorenlight/pseuds/lorenlight
Summary: The Uchiha's are killed and there is one survivor... or two and this one didn't get slan by Itachi. a whole new character who's personality is a little hard to get along with just wants to live quietly, alone and in peace but the world has other plans and thanks to him it's changing in an entirely new way.





	1. When you realize

There’s a scowl on his face that’s been sitting there for quite sometime. He’s not particularly sure how long but long enough that he realizes it might become permanent if he doesn’t change it soon. But he can’t seem to work up the energy to. Irritation and annoyance gnaw at his brain giving him a headache that he’s phasing in and out of. 

 

One reason because he’s stuck in a hospital.

 

Never liked them. Did his best to stay away from them. And the last time he was in one was when a kid pushed him off the bridge into shallow water breaking his leg. Medical staff could have easily remedied the situation but they had thought that the boys had been playing and so they left him to heal the civilian way. 

 

They hadn’t been playing.

 

It wasn’t an accident.

 

They had intentional tried to hurt him.

 

He hasn’t trusted hospitals since. Doesn’t like the way the nurses rush around and scowl when a new patient enters. Hates how the doctors are so indifferent. And despises how uncompassionate so many of them are…..

 

Just like him.

 

But being in the hospital isn’t the worst of it. The worst is being stuck in the bed unable to move properly. Being told that his body would be offline for a while and that even when he could move it he would have to use crutches until further notice. That as the doctor had put it so clearly,

 

“Rest, no heavy labor, no running, no training.”

 

His body was still in too much achy pain to realize but his brain could visualize the atrophy that was going to happen thanks to this; it was annoying.

 

The other reason he was scowling was because why he was there. When he had first awoken the scenery of the hospital had bothered him. As the Doctor gave his prognosis he could feel the swell of a headache forming and then it stopped.

 

“Do you remember why you’re here?”

 

The question had caught him off guard. Not because the complexity of it but rather the simplicity,

 

Why was he in the hospital?

 

And for a moment he was very confused. Because though his grades are fairly average his IQ is high he knows it, the old man Nara that pegs him to play shogi with him knows it and his precious person had as well. He’s a logical thinker and processes things quickly and efficiently. So why in the time that he had been awake had he not wondered why he was there, in the one place he hated the most?

 

“I ask because he had gone into shock and then into a slight coma and i want to make sure there was no lasting damage psychologically.”

 

Shock? Coma?

 

For him that could separate his body and mind shock had never been a problem. But to hear that he went into enough of a shock to put him in a coma is enough to rattle him. And he tries, tries to think back to what happened but he can’t recall anything other than he was late getting back home.

 

That had been a norm for him though. The house was quiet after losing both his mother and father and the only other person that he could honestly say he cared about...That he loved was said to have committed suicide not too long ago.

 

So the house always felt too cold and the room too big and instead he’d rather take his time slowly walking through the streets as the rush died and it was left in quiet whispers.

 

And then he blanks, he can’t seem to piece anything together and the confusion must have been shown clearly because the Doctor lets out a weary and worn sigh

 

“Oh Kaito….”

 

It’s just bordering unprofessional and it’s the first time he’s seen it in a medical staff member. The sorrow and pity lines the man’s face and he already deduced the severity of the situation by his abnormal reaction but he isn’t prepared for the actual response.

 

“You were stabbed. Itachi Uchiha massacred the whole clan. You were lucky enough to survive.”

 

The doctor lost in the heartache that he had to explain such a devastating story to such a young child didn’t notice the heart monitor begin to race until the beeping became an alarm and the man jerked his head up to look into wide eyes.

 

He had gone into shock again and fell unconscious.


	2. that things are not..

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He wakes up but what's going on?

When he had awoke again he had some time to think and process. The nurse had noted he was calmer and the doctor reiterated what he had said before but by now he had managed to gain control of himself so the doctor left again to get the hokage.

 

Unconscious he hadn’t dreamed. He hadn’t relived the memories like most people say that you would. So awake and alone for awhile he decided to pick apart and review what had happened.

 

“You were stabbed.”

 

Now he remembered, walking down the quieting street of the Uchiha district not really paying attention to anything. He remember a soft sound behind him like the dropping of cloth. He remembered turning to see if one of the women may have made a mess but as he did something rushed at him and he didn’t even have time to scream.

 

Blood flooded his mouth and he knew this was probably the end.

 

“Itachi Uchiha massacred the whole clan.”

 

Where this should have disturbed him the most it kept him the most calm. Because that night the person that had stabbed him…. Wasn’t Itachi.

 

He had seen Itachi. They were never friends and he had a one sided dislike for the genius. But he knew what he looked like and the eye that he had stared into that split second told him it wasn’t him. 

 

That sharingan was older. The man himself was taller and there was a hate and vengeful spirit that spiraled like the tomoe he stared at.

 

That hadn’t been Itachi.

 

So why say that it was?

 

The lucky to be alive was easy to guess. It had been true. That stab wound should have killed him instantly but… hadn’t. In his movement he managed to get pierced in a weird way. Enough to make the man think he was died but keep him alive enough until Anbu arrived.

 

He’d had never been lucky so this was a nice change in pace.

 

And that’s why he was there. Scowling at the ceiling just one moment away from a permanent mask.

 

There was a light knock at the door. Another reason he disliked the hospitals. Was there even a reason for knocking? They hardly locked at least according to ninja standards. The amount of privacy one could attain was amazingly minimal.

 

It was more of a courteous and one that he didn’t feel like courteously answering. And not because he can’t but he doesn’t feel like it. He’s never been all that social and a little trauma isn’t going to bring him out his shell now.

 

Luckily the person doesn’t wait too long before opening the door and he knows why,

 

It’s the Hokage.

 

And the man knows him.

 

He however is surprised. The hokage walks in with the grace and power his name affords but the lines and wrinkles in his face are just a bit deeper as if he’s aged a bit more. And considering that he just saw the man not to long ago to personally receive the news of his precious person’s demise… the change is not healthy.

 

He tries to relax his eyes, soften them a bit to show concern he honestly isn’t feeling. And he’s not sure how it passes over as the old man just sighs heavily.

 

Annd it’s only slightly weird that that there isn’t a plume of smoke coming out seeing as it is the hospital. But the thought captures him and bothers him as he feels that the missing pipe might have relaxed him and he wasn’t all that averse to the smell. In fact it might have relaxed him a bit as well. 

 

That startles him because at the age of ten he should not be thinking of smoking but he is, and it doesn’t seem like a bad idea. Maybe when he’s able to move more and the smoke won’t hinder his hopes of being a shinobi completely.

 

“Kaito Uchiha”

 

His name is drawled out slowly and tiredly like the doctor’s but with a heavier burden.

 

“I’ve heard your condition, how are you feeling?”

 

A stupid question but he doesn’t call the man out on it. Because if he heard his condition the same way he had then he knows that currently he’s facing muscle spasms that at times lock his body up and trigger his pain neurons. He knows that when there are no spasms his body is in a fairly numb like state. He would know that the stitches and the healing jutsu have strained his heart and can at times give him something close to a heart burn. And the situation that caused all this has given him a headache the size of the hokage’s tower.

 

A stupid question that he answers in kind,

 

“Better”

 

Because that’s all he’s feeling hour by hour a little less pain and little more restless. The Hokage nods cause he does know the truth after all,

 

“I’m sure the doctor already told you what had happened?”

 

And Kaito has to fight not to roll his eyes because this is rather boring and tedious and he just wants to go for a walk at this point. But he opts to look down because right now his indifference might call for a deeper psychoanalysis and he really doesn’t want to go there. So he’s hoping that he can pull off a look of sorrow despite his lack of it.

 

“Yes.”

 

It it must have worked because the old man sighs heavier than before and relief floods his bones.

 

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

 

He says.

 

And Kaito wants to say it wasn’t all that much of a loss. He wasn’t fully accepted by the Uchiha’s because his mom had him out of wedlock with a plain civilian. That the kids use to bully him and that the adults would raise their noses at him. They used to call him a mutt for a plethora of reasons and so knowing all those people were dead… wasn’t really a loss. But for a more emotionally stable person despite that they would feel something so he ducks his head further hoping to portray that feeling.

 

“To think that Itachi would kill the entire clan just to prove his power.”

 

His head jerks up eyes a bit wide as he looks over at the hokage and without thinking he blurts,

 

“Who said that?”

 

And he can’t even pretend to still be sad now because that line just threw him off. 

 

For power?

 

The hokage sighs again,

 

“You were not the only survivor. Sasuke Uchiha was also alive”

 

His brain is turning in more ways than he wants to acknowledge and he wishes it would just slow down a bit. But his mouth is rebellious as it asks again,

 

“Was.. he hurt?”

 

And the hokage thinks he’s concerned for the young heir but the truth is he’s trying to put the pieces together. Because he knows Itachi not personally but from his precious person and none of this is adding up. If he was really doing it just for the sake of power than there wouldn’t have been a second person.

 

“Not physically but emotionally and psychologically.”

 

Of course not physically because Itachi was as THAT person had put it a doting brother and would never let him get hurt. So if he really was trying to get stronger let’s say by some strange notion of cutting bonds of people that he knew and loved… his brother should have been first. A true killer wouldn’t leave behind an avenger.

 

But he looks away because he doesn’t want the hokage to know that HE knows something is wrong. Because they’ve already put an abnormally heavy emphasis on Itachi and Massacre. And he has a feeling they are hoping that he to will want revenge.

 

But he doesn’t care.

 

He’s just not the emotional type or emotional at all. Can’t find the hate he should probably feel or the vengeance. The only one he cared about died mysteriously and sure he’d like answers to that answers Itachi might have but he is in no rush. If itachi had wanted to kill them he should have when he had the opportunity. There was no chance now.

 

“I know this must be hard for you to comprehend.”

 

It isn’t. He’s got it. But he looks down like he’s still processing it.

 

“But i need to tell you the accommodations from now on. For the meantime you and Sasuke will be living in temporary housing in the tower until an apartment is ready. I ask that you and Sasuke stay together as you are both children and are from the same clan.”

 

It’s for emotional stability, he knows. But he is not emotionally unstable. In fact he’s not emotional at all but he nods his hair still blocking a view of his eyes because he still doesn’t want the man to see how bored of this he really is. After all he’s always been emotionally deficient but because of lack of care in his life no one questioned or examined it. And he’s not about to be examined now.

 

The hokage nods as if he understands but they are on two different planes of thought. 

 

“Good. the doctor said you should be up and somewhat mobile in two days i will send Sasuke then. After which you will be discharged and brought to the temporary housing.”

 

There are places in the tower for guest so he knows exactly what the man is talking about but that level of knowledge should be outside his scope so he nods quietly.

 

The hokage stays in silence observing him and he wonders if he’s caught onto him yet. He’s not an enemy so there is nothing to be suspicious of but the whole situation reeks of rancid lies and he’s not sure he can trust the hokage at this point. Not that he ever did before. So in an effort to buy some pity he bites his lip in a way he has seen others who have been in distress. 

 

It works.

 

The hokage sighs again before turning opening the unreliable door and moving to leave. But just as he thinks he’s in the clear the hokage stops,

 

“Kaito”

 

The name is firm and he thinks he blew it. The man is onto him and that they’re going to put him in therapy for life because he even realizes how messed up he is. 

 

“You are not alone”

 

He looks up and it’s a good thing that the hokage’s back is turned and that thanks to his departure the anbu who guard him have shifted because no one gets a look at his face. No one gets to see the blankness that is in his eyes. Because to someone else those words might of held some comfort, someone else may have cared and someone else may have taken it to heart. But him… He knew the truth, the feeling that you were in a crowd and no one was looking at you, the feeling of an empty home with no one to welcome you, the feeling of talking to someone and no one believing you. He knew that there were times he had been alone and times in the future he would be…

 

But he wasn’t lonely.

\----------------


	3. as you hoped

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When a wounded animal meets a predator.

It was two days exactly when he heard a soft knock on the door. He had guessed that the Uchiha heir had finally decided to grace him with his presence. He was fairly sick of the hospital and was getting a bit stir crazy. According to the original prognosis he would be dismissed tomorrow but they needn’t wait that long. 

 

The doctor had been shocked, amazed and awed when he had described how compatible his chakra was with him. It meant that the healing jutsu’s reacted a bit stronger and so the healing process was moving smoothly. In fact he could have left the day before but they wanted to be on the safe side considering what a ‘rarity’ he was. But he had also been secretly healing himself in the night, hoping to move a little quicker because now that the numbness was fading his body was beginning to feel stiff.

 

A knock sounded again but Kaito was still in no mood to answer. He really wasn’t sociable at all so it was no wonder that he didn’t have any friends.

 

But he assumed it was important as the door opened and one of the nurses someone he didn’t care to remember (not that he did any of them) peeked her head in the room,

 

“Oh! Uchiha-san, you are awake?”

 

She walked in a bit further despite the lack of response that was given.

 

“I brought a guest that has been waiting eagerly to meet you”

 

He would have scoffed but the action took more energy than it was worth. So instead he just watched and she wasn’t waiting for a response anyway as she looked back and out stepped a slightly younger child.

 

His hair was had a bluish shine to it which only made his pale skin look sickly. Not to mention it’s an unruly mess with such jagged bangs. His eyes were large and black like most Uchiha’s but they are wary, frightened, distrustful and… scared. There were bags under them no child his age should have and he only briefly looked at Kaito before looking away. Even the clothes the child was wearing tells a sad story as they seem just a bit too big as if he lost weight and not intentionally. If he wasn’t being escorted by a nurse who had to have cleared him Kaito would have thought the boy was dying.

 

How foolish.

 

The child was clearly more traumatized than the hokage had initially let on. Betrayed by his brother, he wondered how much the child had seen that night. He had only seen the beginning of his own death how many had Sasuke seen?

 

“Well i’m going to give you guys some space to talk, if you need anything just buzz for a nurse.”

 

And with that she left.

 

\---------------

 

Sasuke was tired. 

 

He was tired of everything. The pitying looks, the questions, the lack of information.

 

He was tired and angry and he just didn’t understand why he was still alive. But the hokage had said he wasn’t alone.

 

That night he had seen bodies upon bodies of death. Itachi had left him visuals of an unnecessary massacre. There should have been no one else; and yet there was. Apparently the person in question was lucky to escape with their life and it had been touch and go for a while but he had managed to pull through.

 

Kaito Uchiha.

 

He had never heard of the guy. But he was two years his senior and had lived alone for the most part. The Hokage had said that he wanted them to meet and would have them stay together but he wasn’t sure how to take that. 

 

Uchiha or not the guy was a stranger but he had stayed silent because he was still angry that this had happened.

 

So when the nurse said that it was time to go see him he was caught of gaurd.

 

They had knocked but there was no answer and he wondered if the person was resting. But the nurse as intrusive as always peeked in and beckoned him closer.

 

A shiver of fear rang through his spine.

 

The stranger in question sat up straight on the bed hands folded on his lap. His skin was just a bit tanner than his and it looked healthy like he was getting the rest he needed. His hair was pitch black pulled into a side ponytail and it almost reminded him of his brother. But there was something off about him. His hair was much straighter and seemed thinner and his bangs were cut neatly in a side sweep meticulously done. And then you got to the eyes. 

 

They reminded him a bit of his father’s, sharp and ‘wicked’ looking and yet they didn’t. Almost a bit like that inuzuka boy’s animalistic ones and yet.. Not quite. Either way they were cold and the way they scanned over him terrified him. 

 

He couldn’t remember seeing him before and if he had he would have surely remembered because there was an air around him that you just wouldn’t forget. He should have been reminded of the two male authorities in his life since it was a slight combination of both yet as he tried to line of the pictures they were shattered by this person.

 

The nurse said something he missed but it must have been a goodbye because she left the room and he tried with all his might not to run after her.

 

His nerves felt tight but those eyes never left him as if pulling him apart and calculating.

 

“You…”

 

At least he sounded his age. That brought some relief,

 

“Look like crap”

 

And then it was gone.

 

\--------------------

 

Large, wide eyes turned to him but Kaito looked back just as firmly. He could see the child’s jaw clench as if he wanted to say something but restrained. And he knew why, saw the fear that slipped pass as he looked at him. It wouldn’t be the first time he was told his eyes were too hard or cold or intense. THAT person had said that too….

 

“You know you and itachi both have hard eyes.”

 

A breeze blew by ruffling their hair but Kaito continued the painting he was working on.

 

“But i think there’s a big difference because even though itachi’s eyes look cold there is a warmth underneath that is just a tad too soft for a life of blood.”

 

At that he looked over at him wondering where he was going with this and why they were even having the conversation. But the other man smiled as he also turned to him it was a twist between rueful and sad,

 

“Yours are just cold”

 

And that was another reason to believe that something about this whole thing seemed wrong. But he didn’t have enough information to truly find an answer to the latent questions. So instead he looked at the child in appraisal and spoke his mind because if he was going to be stuck with the brat he was going to have to learn fast that Kaito wasn’t nice.

 

“You’re not sleeping”

 

It wasn’t a question

 

“The longer you draw this out the more reluctant they’ll be to release you”

 

The words looked like they actually hurt with the pain and shock that spread on his face and that must have been all he needed to give him the confidence to speak,

 

“What do you...WHAT DO YOU KNOW!? ITACHI KILLED EVERYONE! I SAW HIM! I SAW HIM KILL MOM AND…..”

 

Eyes full of such hate, rage, and anger that Kaito was impressed the kid hadn’t drowned in it yet. The pale face was now red with strain,

 

“HE KILLED EVERYONE! I HATE HIM!!”

 

Such a pity.

 

Kaito couldn’t help but think, that a child so young was exposed to such intense emotions. He was sure if it were him he would have gotten a headache. 

 

There was silence though and and the anger begins to die down to confusion and Sasuke looks up at the other boy in confusion. 

 

“Do you… Don’t you hate him? He killed everyone.”

 

There is another silence as Kaito contemplates how to answer this. With the hokage it’s so easy to lie. To go off what he knows is socially appropriate and pass it off. But that’s because he has no true ties to the village besides living in it. But with Sasuke it’s a bit different. They are going to be stuck together until most likely Sasuke is capable of caring for himself; and that’s annoying. Because Kaito really doesn’t have the patience to keep of the facade everyday until the boy is older. So instead he decides that he will not hide his nature from Sasuke. He’s been kind to show him only a little of his coldness but there really is no reason to hold it back. Not to mention the kid is delusional with thoughts of revenge.

 

“I don’t care.”

 

The words are like cold water on Sasuke,

 

“I was never particularly close to the Uchiha’s expect one and they already died.”

 

It sounded so heartless because it was and to an eight year old still coming to terms with the trauma it seemed worse. But those black eyes just like his only in color remained unfazed,

 

“If you want to hate him go ahead, if you want revenge go ahead, but do it alone.”

 

Sasuke’s lip quivered at the exposure of the ambition that he was clinging onto. The reason that he wasn’t killing himself… this hope.

 

And now this man was acting like it was all frivolous. The pain of it all was heart wrenching and the tears flowed unbridled and yet Kaito looked like he didn’t care at all.

 

“You… HOW CAN YOU JUST SAY THAT?!”

 

Ah! Arrogant. that's what this kid was. Doted on by his brother, catered to by his mother, loved by the clan and now pitied by the world. It had bred an ignorant kind of arrogance. And for him that wouldn’t do at all.

 

“You still don’t seem to understand”

 

That halted the tears and Sasuke’s brow furrowed,

 

“When i said i don’t care i meant it”

 

Anger started to bloom in the young child’s face. And at this point Kaito was getting rather sick of his yelling his eyes narrowed in clear irritation,

 

“The clan dying means nothing to me and to be perfectly honest with you if you had died that night, if Itachi had killed you like you know he could…”

 

Eyes widened in horror but Kaito didn’t stop instead he tilted his head back a bit as if looking down on the slightly younger child.

 

“I wouldn’t shed a single tear”

 

And that was the straw that broke the camel’s back, that released the torrent of tears and with that he turned and ran slamming the door. Going where? Kaito didn’t care. They were still strangers with only blood between them and well... blood meant little after a situation like this. Of course the nurses might not be happy with the outcome but it mattered little he would get some peace in a room where no one wanted to enter….

 

Quiet peace.


End file.
